(Fwd) Re: Wuss & others

[Joanne M. Despres]

Fred Shapiro wrote me privately to ask if Merriam-Webster's files
contained evidence earlier than 1981 for _wuss_.

Sorry to say, the earliest citation we have for the word is from a
1983 source (quoted below, for what it's worth):

"Arthur Duffy is the office worker's Everyman, a cartoon hero
struggling through the complex byways of American business.

'When the company is teetering on the edge of failure, Duffy comes
through', [his creator Bruce] Hammond says.  'It's the little things, like getting the
faucet to work, that are tripping up Duffy.  Duffy really is a wuss.
He doesn't realize how noble he is'."

Martie Barnes, Associated Press, "Duffy"
ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS  May 15, 1983

Joanne Despres
Merriam-Webster